Farmers, Ranchers Concerned About Health Care Costs

As the national debate on health care heats up, farmers and ranchers have a lot on the line.

As Politico reports, farmers have been struggling with the economic challenges of sluggish crop prices and sharply lower farm income. And even though close to 90 percent of farmers have health insurance, their concerns over health care is more widespread than it may seem.

A new university-led study has found that farmers and ranchers are actually quite concerned about health care costs and nearly half worry they will have to liquidate land or other assets to help offset health-related costs.

In related news, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran made national news after initially announcing Monday night that he would not vote for the U.S. Senate’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but on Tuesday, Moran flipped the script at a rally in Olathe, Kansas, where he said he would support a so-called “repeal-and-delay” plan being hatched by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

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One of the senators who stuck the knife into the Senate's latest plan to replace the Affordable Care Act was one Republicans hadn't been worried about.

On Monday night, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran and Sen. Mike Lee, a fellow Republican from Utah, announced their opposition to the measure on Twitter, effectively killing Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), which had been the GOP plan to replace the ACA.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is opposed to a bill crafted in secret by Republican leaders to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But speaking to an overflow crowd at a town hall meeting Thursday in northwest Kansas, Moran said he is open to supporting a revised version if GOP leaders can address his concerns. “I would be anxious to see if that bill can get to the point in which I think it’s beneficial for Kansas,” Moran said.

Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare. The long-awaited plan marks a big step toward achieving one of the Republican Party's major goals.